On a more serious note, Spurlock said that “being on the road like they’re on the road is a really hard thing.”

“I was with them for six months and it’s an exhausting lifestyle,” he said. “And I think that it just gets hard after awhile, for someone, probably like Zayn, who is a homebody already, but is also incredibly talented, the allure of being able to potentially leave and become a solo artist in the midst of all your success is probably better than waiting till the end.”

Malik released a statement when he left saying he wanted “to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight,” but that relaxation period didn’t seem to last too long: A solo demo of his leaked Tuesday.